Temple University Athletics
From Big Country to Owl Country
10.10.06 | Football
Oct. 10, 2006
PHILADELPHIA - By John Di Carlo
Neil Dickson has started to notice the subtle differences.
When he's back home in Winfield, KS, he'll find himself walking five steps ahead of his friends and family before he slows down and remembers that he's not in Philadelphia.
"When I got here, everything was so rushed," said Dickson, a 6-foot-4, 280-pound senior who is playing his first season on Temple's offensive line at right guard. "If I walked around campus, people would be flying by me with their coffee, going to class. That was one of the first things that reminded me that the pace is a little faster up here in the northeastern part of the country."
Dickson likes Temple's North Philadelphia campus and he even likes his new home on the offensive line, despite the fact that he had never played on that side of the ball before until this year. He generally keeps an even keel, never getting too high or too low. He says it's part of the country side of his personality that he'll never let go of, and it has most likely aided his transition from defensive tackle to offensive guard. Dickson didn't have much time to think about the change. He went into Temple's spring drills as a starter at defensive tackle. When they were over, he was at the top of the depth chart at right guard.
No worries, Dickson said. That's sometimes how it happens in football.
"I thought it would be worth the shot because it would be best for the team," Dickson said of the position switch. "Coach Golden told me I'd have a chance to start, that he wasn't going to move me to put me at second string. So he put me at right guard, and guys like (right tackle) Elliot Seifert and (center) Alex Derenthal really helped me learn my plays and learn my technique, and it was really fun. I had never played offense at all, so it kind of brought the fun back into the game."
It hasn't always been fun. Dickson learned that the hard way when nationally-ranked Louisville had up to 20 different blitzes in its arsenal. For the most part, he's seeing a lot of different defensive looks for the first time.
"With defense, it's a lot of freelancing. You just go after the guy," Dickson said. "On offense, you've got to do what you're told to do on each play. You have to execute each play. That was the biggest adjustment for me."
So far, Golden has been pleased with Dickson's progress.
"He's even-keeled, but he understands what being an offensive lineman is," Golden said of his right guard. "Offensive line is not a glorious position. It's for tough guys, it's for unselfish guys. It's for team players. And you really have to be a student of the game. Offensive line is complicated now. We need kids with the intellect--not just the intelligence quotient, but the football intelligence--and the poise at the line of scrimmage to be able to go from Play A to Play B. Because really, that's how the game has evolved.
"We looked at Neil as an unselfish player. We looked at our depth on defense and thought that he would be a guy who could move, and he obviously has moved, and he's done a great job for us. He's done a really solid job for us. He's learning as he goes. He hasn't really played a lot of offensive line in his life."
When Dickson isn't dealing with the sharp learning curve on the offensive line, he's taking his share of teasing from his teammates for his country roots.
Most of it comes from Seifert, who grew up in Exeter Township, near Reading, which will never be confused with a big city. Still, that hasn't stopped the leader of Temple's offensive line from having fun at the expense of its newest addition.
"We're pretty good buds," Dickson said of Seifert. "He definitely teases me for being from Kansas. But I give it back to him for being an Eagle Scout. It all evens out."
Derenthal, Dickson's roommate, is from Davie, FL, a town with a much larger population than Winfield's 12,000. Still, a significant part of Davie's population owns horses, so the two can relate. "We're both kind of country-ish," Dickson said.
Otherwise, Dickson is an easy target.
"Sometimes my accent will come out, or sometimes I'll say a word a little different than they'll say it, all that good stuff," he said. "The way I dress sometimes, the music I listen to...I listen to mostly country.
"Where I'm from, it's obviously a lot different than here. It's a small town with one high school. Everybody knows everybody. If you do something on a Friday night, the next day everybody's going to know about it. It's a cool little small town, though. It was a good place to grow up, and I really liked it. It's clean, crime-free. It's a great place."
But Dickson doesn't have any regrets about coming to Temple or about switching positions. The game, he said, is starting to slow down for him. He feels he's starting to recognize blitzes quicker and that he's begun to act more on instinct instead of thinking so much about what he needs to do every second.
The only regret Dickson does have is that he'll only have one year to learn his new position with Golden's coaching staff.
"I wish I was a freshman right now with these coaches," Dickson said, "because you know what they bring to this program, and you know it's going to be great. Coach Golden won't accept anything less. Even with the losses we've had, Coach has said, `A loss is hard to take, but you have to get something from it.'
"We're a pretty close unit, and (offensive line) Coach (Bob) Bicknell is a really good guy, and he really works with us. After every practice, we look at film to see what we did wrong. He helps me get my steps down, get my stance right. He critiques us, and we help each other. We are definitely young. It kind of stinks for me because I feel like a freshman and I wish I had more time, but as the weeks have gone by, I've gotten into it. And everything we're learning now against some of these great teams is only going to help us in the future."
